Regional collaboration results in regional strength

A strong region needs a strong university partner. Likewise, a strong university needs strong regional communities. Northeast Arkansas communities produce and prepare future Arkansas State University (A-State) students, scholars and leaders. If northeast Arkansas communities and A-State are not working together, they may not succeed.

Growing up in northeast Arkansas, I knew A-State as a place for basketball tournaments, collegiate sports and higher education. While these were true, it was not until I had my degree and began my professional career that I learned other values A-State brings to the region and communities like my hometowns, Hoxie and Walnut Ridge.

While A-State is a place for learning and achieving, it has also long been the region’s catalyst for economic development. Recent examples include the opening of the A-State Innovation System and the collaboration with the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) to establish the NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine on the A-State campus.

These public-private partnerships are already spurring economic development in the region and helping fulfill community needs such as support for innovation and startup businesses and a shortage of doctors in our region’s rural areas.

In 2000, the A-State University Center for Regional and Economic Development, which was located in the Jonesboro Industrial Park, merged with the College of Business to serve as a community outreach program and was rebranded as the Delta Center for Economic Development. The Delta Center was to establish and implement a set of strategies for economic development in the Delta region.

The founding vision states, “The Arkansas Delta will be a region where communities cooperate to create an economic climate that maximizes the productivity of citizens to create value and retain wealth for the benefit of the region. People in the Arkansas Delta will enjoy productive employment, live in a region rich with natural resources and grow their families in progressive, comfortable and safe communities.”

One of the key objectives to achieve this vision is to foster collaboration between A-State and regional communities. Navigating the vast assets and resources of A-State is not easy. After all, it is the second-largest higher education institution in Arkansas, and the only public, four-year higher education institution in northeast Arkansas. Many communities in the region may not be aware of the opportunity to collaborate with A-State and tap into the knowledge and expertise on campus.

The Delta Center coordinates the economic development outreach services of A-State and works to provide a comprehensive approach to serving the businesses, governments and citizens of Arkansas. Services offered through the Delta Center range from assisting local governments make sound decisions using economic impact analysis tools, feasibility studies, case studies, market research and the knowledge and expertise of the A-State faculty to responding to workforce or leadership training needs, promoting internship opportunities, and providing entrepreneurship and innovation assistance.

The Delta Center recently secured funds from the Economic Development Administration to create the A-State Innovation System. A-State Innovate provides the tools and resources to help turn ideas into a commercialized product. From prototyping to connecting entrepreneurs to business resources, A-State Innovate has already established a record of accomplishment and has helped bring ideas to the marketplace.

Further, the Delta Center staff work with our in-house partners at the A-State Small Business and Technology Development Center and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission Manufacturing Solutions, who help with business creation, management and operation, and offer training solutions to business and industry.

Northeast Arkansas is a special place that we all call home. At the Delta Center, we know that success is built on relationships, and we are readily available to assist. Let’s work together to strengthen our communities and ensure our region’s long-term economic future.
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Editor’s note: Andrea Allen is director of the Delta Center for Economic Development at Arkansas State University. The opinions expressed are those of the author.